The National Drainage Program

The National Drainage Program initiative aims to increase the efficiency of Egypt's irrigation and drainage infrastructure while also ensuring its long-term viability. The project is conceived as a drainage investment project with three complementing components:

1) A sectoral planning and research component that supports long-term sector and project planning, such as the national surface drainage system for transferring liquid saline water from the drainage network to the sea and strengthening drainage's technical underpinnings.

2) The most important component is institutional reform, which aims to decentralise provincial irrigation administrations, simplify and strengthen the capacity of water and energy development authorities, provincial irrigation and drainage authorities, district water boards, provincial farm water management directorates, agricultural departments, and farmers organisations.

3) The investment component, which funds the completion of ongoing projects, rehabilitation and reconfiguration of completed drainage projects, and new projects that align with or support the overall project strategies, is designed to improve sanitation and water management infrastructure, as well as to protect inland wetlands.